


Balance

by pterawaters



Series: Coming Home [4]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Alpha Danny, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Concerning a minor character, Family Drama, Humor, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, Kid Fic, Knotting, M/M, Minor Injuries, Omega Steve, Season/Series 01
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-04
Updated: 2015-06-04
Packaged: 2018-04-02 21:08:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4073917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pterawaters/pseuds/pterawaters
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>With Danny out of commission with a torn ACL (which Steve insists is not his fault), and Mary in town, Steve tries to find a balance between his family and his work.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Balance

"How did you say you were injured, again?" asks the doctor, and Danny feels his face heat up with embarrassment. How many times is he going to have to tell this story, anyway? It was bad enough telling it to the nurse who was old enough to be Danny's mother.

Danny decides to lie. "Well, originally playing high-school baseball, but it hasn't bothered me in a really long time."

"Anything traumatic recently? With the knee?" The doctor asks, and Danny sighs. There's no way to talk around this, is there?

"Yeah, I got a new partner," Danny admits, looking down at his knee and hoping he doesn't have to detail exactly how a morning-shower blow job turned into a knee injury.

The doctor chuckles and says, "I was thinking more about a physical injury."

Danny winces. How does he talk around the fact that Steve had him so addled, that when he came, he lost his balance, slipped, and twisted his knee? He decides to go with the generic, "No, no. This guy is like a physical injury, Doc." He then proceeds to detail exactly how Steve's exploits at work are insane, and no reasonable person could possibly keep up with them without getting injured.

The doctor nods and laughs again, waiting for Danny to finish. When Danny does, feeling a little bit like he doth protest too much, the doctor points at the MRI scan they did of Danny's knee, and says, "Well, I'm seeing a slight tear on the ACL."

Danny leaves the doctor's office with a cane (a freaking cane), a bottle of pills, and orders to stay off his knee as much as possible. Seeing as he got a call from Chin asking to meet them at Halawa prison, Danny doesn't think that's gonna happen anytime soon. 

Using the cane, Danny limps back out to his car, which he gets to drive for once, because Steve has gone to the airport to pick up his sister, who called the night before saying she was coming for an impromptu visit. Danny watched Steve take the call, and something about the stiffness in Steve's back makes Danny think there's something wrong. Steve didn't say what, and Danny hasn't had time to coax it out of him yet.

Unfortunately for Danny, driving his car is pretty painful at the moment, since it's his right knee giving him grief. Still, he pops one of the anti-inflammatories the doctor gave him and drives out to the crime scene. 

Steve's truck is already in the parking lot when Danny gets there, Steve standing at the driver's door and handing his keys over to Mary. Danny approaches them and clears his throat. "Hey."

"Oh, there he is!" Steve says with a big smile. Danny thinks the smile might be a little too big, which really makes him wonder what's going on. "Danny, you remember my sister, Mary, right?"

"Hey, how's it going?" Danny says, leaning on his cane and offering his hand to Mary.

Mary takes his hand, shaking it, and Danny notices she's an Omega, like Steve. Only her scent is stronger, like she doesn't bother taking suppressants. "Hey, Danny. I hear you've been taking good care of my favorite guys."

Danny chuckles and looks down. "Yeah. I mean, I try. When they let me."

Pointing his thumb toward Danny, Steve says, "JD's completely in love with him, Mare. You should see them together."

A dark look passes over Mary's face, but she nods and smiles. "Yeah, totally. Sounds fun!" Wrinkling her nose at their surroundings, Mary asks, "So, I'll go to the house, then?"

"Yeah," Steve says, looking over his shoulder at the prison behind them. "Sorry about not having the day off. The nanny's going to pick JD up from daycare and bring him to you. Hopefully Danny and I will be home for dinner."

"Oh! Both of you?" Mary asks, her eyes wide. After a moment, she chuckles. "Yeah, of course! Dinner. See you then!"

As they walk away from the parking lot, Steve nods at Danny's cane. "So, what'd the doctor say?"

"Small tear in my ACL," Danny replies, frowning at how fast Steve's walking. "Slow down, there speed racer. This injury is your fault, you know. No need making it worse with your Bigfoot stride."

“My fault?” Steve asks, raising his eyebrows, though he does slow down to about half speed. It’s still difficult for Danny to keep up. “I’m not the one who suggested sex in the shower would be a good idea.”

“Well, you went along with it,” Danny points out, before noticing Duke Lukela’s in front of them, ready to explain the escaped-prisoner situation. “Uh, hey, Duke.”

Duke clears his throat and starts talking about the case, ever the professional. Danny could kiss him for that, not that he’s going to. Steve’s the only person Danny’s interested in kissing these days.

Speaking of, now that he’s not complaining about his knee, Danny notices that Steve’s got a weird look on his face, and he’s not paying very close attention to Duke, which is even weirder. By now, there have been several cases Danny has worked with Steve, and on each one, Steve’s focus is singular and intense. Something big must be distracting him.

When they get a quiet moment, Danny pulls Steve to the side of the room and asks in a quiet voice, “What’s with the face?”

Steve furrows his brow and asks, “What face?”

Danny tries again. “Why do you have aneurism face?”

Steve shakes his head. “What? I don’t have aneurism face.”

“Uh, yeah, babe,” Danny insists, cupping Steve’s elbow in one of his hands. “You do. What, did your sister give you aneurism face?”

Steve presses his lips together and looks away with a huff, which is interesting.

“That’s not a no.” Danny gives Steve a look, hoping it will shame Steve into cracking and admitting what’s wrong.

After a few seconds, Steve finally looks at Danny, but he just scoffs at Danny’s face and rolls his eyes. Patting Danny’s shoulder, Steve says, “I’ll tell you later.”

“Acceptable,” Danny replies, hoping Steve realizes that Danny’s going to _make_ Steve talk about it later, whether Steve wants to or not. Because really, how is Danny supposed to be an effective partner (both at work and romantically) if Steve won’t tell Danny what’s bothering him?

~*~

When the investigation leads them to a waitress at a diner, Steve figures he’ll bring Danny along. Danny keeps giving him these looks and he know Danny can be pretty stubborn sometimes. Steve’s not going to be able to get out of this conversation about his so-called aneurism face without facing a deluge of words Steve really doesn’t want to be subjected to.

Steve drives, obviously, and while they’re on the way to the diner, he asks Danny, “So you wanted to know about my face?”

“Yeah, I did,” Danny says, his voice welcoming and his face open, rather than confrontational. He probably appreciates the fact that Steve brought up the topic. “What’s going on?”

“I think something’s wrong with Mary,” Steve admits, keeping his eyes on the road so he doesn’t have to look at Danny while he says this. “The last-minute trip? The dark circles under her eyes? She’s not right.”

“Do you think she could be a danger to JD?” Danny asks, which of course he does. Sometimes Steve thinks Danny might just be with Steve because that way he gets to be close to JD. Other times, the look on Danny’s face after he kisses Steve is so raw, and so sincere, that Steve’s sure he’s just imagining things. 

“No,” Steve insists, before he really thinks through Danny’s question. There’s no way Mary would want to hurt JD. Steve knows she loves that little boy like he’s her own. And there’s a thought. “I mean, maybe she misses him more than she thought she would. She’s basically been his mother for the past two years.”

Steve has thought Mary felt relieved to no longer be burdened with JD’s care. Maybe that’s not the whole truth.

Steve glances over and sees Danny frown and cross his arms over his chest. “You think she wants to take him?”

“No. She wouldn’t do that to me, Danny,” Steve says, even though he’s not completely sure of that. He makes a mental note to call Mai, the nanny, and ask her to stay with Mary and JD until Steve and Danny get home. He feels kind of like he should tell Danny his concern, but he doesn’t want Danny doing something stupid. Doing stupid things should be Steve’s territory. When Danny does stupid things, he ends up tearing his ACL. Danny looks like maybe he doesn’t quite believe Steve, which is insane, because Steve was Naval Intelligence for five years, and a Navy SEAL for seven. He knows how to lie. “She wouldn’t.”

“Okay,” Danny says, lifting one of his hands away from being crossed over his chest. “If you say so, Steve.” The huff gives it away that Danny’s the one lying now. “Do you– D’you have any other theories for what’s wrong with Mary?”

“Maybe,” Steve says, turning a corner. They’ve got a few more miles to go, so Steve figures they have time for this conversation. “I think it might have something to do with Mary’s girlfriend.”

“Alpha?” Danny asks, like it’s a given. 

Steve knows Mary a hell of a lot better than Danny does, but that doesn’t mean Danny’s wrong in his assumption. She’s about as likely to be attracted to a Beta woman, or another Omega woman as Steve is likely to be attracted to a Beta or Omega man. Maybe even less so. It had always rubbed Steve the wrong way how strictly adherent their parents had been to traditional relationships, if not traditional gender roles. Hell, in their family Mom was the Alpha, but she was the school teacher. Dad was the Omega, but he was the cop. And still, it had been a given that since Mary was bound to be an Omega, she’d end up with an Alpha. 

Had Steve presented as an Alpha (like he and everyone else was expecting him to), his parents would've expected him to end up with an Omega. Instead, Steve went into heat, alone on the mainland and after his mother's death. Steve couldn't ever be glad about his mother's death, but he was alright with her going to the grave not knowing Steve wasn't a late-presenting Alpha, like she had been, but an Omega like his father.

Answering Danny's question, Steve says, "Yeah. Alpha. I _think_ her name is Felicia, but I haven't been able to get a last name out of Mary."

"Abusive?" Danny asks, his eyes tilted sadly.

Steve nods. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure. I mean, I know Mary kept her away from JD. She always said it was because she wasn't sure about Felicia, and she didn't want JD to bond with someone who wouldn't be around forever. I had my suspicions it was more than that. So did Deb."

"Your aunt?" Danny asks, and Steve realizes that he never introduced Danny to Deb when she was in town for his father's funeral. 

"Yeah, Aunt Deb. She had JD whenever Mary didn't." Steve also realizes he's been timing his weekly calls to Deb while Danny isn't around. He doesn't want Danny to hear him groveling to Deb and begging her to move to Hawaii to help him with JD. 

Danny nods and looks out the window for a moment, before saying, "So, what do you want to do?"

"Let Mary stay," Steve says honestly. He shrugs and makes the last turn before the diner. "As long as she needs to."

"In the house?" Danny raises his eyebrows at Steve. 

Steve returns Danny's look with a frown. "Yes, in the house. She's family, Danny!"

"Yeah, no," Danny says, holding up his hands. "You're right. Of course she'll stay at the house."

"What's your problem with my sister staying, Danny?" Steve asks, pulling into the diner parking lot. 

"No problem," Danny insists, giving Steve a smile that looks fake as hell. He picks up his cane and says, "C'mon, you can buy me some pancakes."

Steve shakes his head, but gets out of the car and helps Danny hobble into the restaurant. He watches Danny's face, like that'll tell him what's going on in Danny's head. Doesn't he like Mary? Is he really that worried about Mary trying to take JD? 

Suddenly, Steve knows what he needs to do. He needs to make sure Danny spends some time getting to know Mary. That'll take care of this hesitation on Danny's part, for sure. 

~*~

Steve brings Chin with him when Dawkins escapes the bank in the bank manager's car. He'd rather Danny came with him, but Danny can't run, so Chin Ho it is, with Kono tracking their perp's car from HQ.

"Uh-oh," Kono says over the phone while Steve's racing to catch up with the stolen car. 

"Uh-oh, what?" Steve asks, narrowly avoiding a slow-moving truck. He's very aware of how dead Danny will kill him if he wrecks this car. 

"We're about to lose traffic cam coverage in about two seconds." Kono sighs. "He's gone. I'm sorry, there are no other cameras on that road."

"Alright." Steve keeps following in the direction Dawkins went, hoping to get lucky and spot the car. He tries to think of other ways to track the vehicle, and all he's coming up with is satellite imaging. 

He _could_ call Catherine and ask for a favor, but Steve hasn't spoken to her since a few days after his father's funeral, when he told her he was transferring into the reserves, and that he needed some space. He and Catherine were never really _together_ , but neither one of them was ever with anyone else, either. Not until Steve came back to Oahu and started seeing Danny. Steve hasn't told Catherine about Danny. When would he have had the chance?

If Steve were to call her up now and ask for a favor, she'd be doing it under the assumption that they Steve still wanted to be not-together together. He can't do that. It's too disingenuous. 

How are they going to find Dawkins, though?

Steve spends ten frustrated minutes searching for a black Mercedes, which could've turned off anywhere but the tunnel. "This is hopeless," he says to Chin.

"Well, we know he wants off the island, right?" Chin asks, his fingers going white as he grips the dash while Steve makes a hard right turn. 

"Right," Steve says in agreement. "We cut him off from Honolulu International. That only leaves all the marinas and smaller airfields."

"I'd guess one of the smaller airfields," Chin says. "A boat seems too slow for this guy."

"Where's the nearest one?" Steve asks, though he thinks he has an idea of which one it could be. He's just not quite sure he's right and he doesn't want to make a mistake with Dawkins out on the streets. 

"I'm not sure," Chin replies, pulling out his phone and starting a search. It takes him a few moments, after which Chin opens his mouth to speak. He's cut off by the radio. 

"Guys!" Kono cries over their open line. "We got a 911 call from Makani Kai Air, they're a helicopter tour operator."

Shit. Steve didn't think of a tour helicopter. He wonders if Chin had. Chin's look of surprise says probably not.

Danny's voice comes over the line next. "Ground staff says a man matching Dawkin's description jacked a helicopter. He's got the pilot and a family of three held hostage."

There's no way Steve's going to be able to do much at Makani Kai air, not with a helicopter at least a few minutes ahead of him. He's gonna need his own lift. Steve makes a U-turn and heads toward another airfield. "Danny, contact Honolulu Approach and get me the direction that island bird is heading, okay?"

"You got it," Danny replies.

Steve avoids some traffic, and then says, "Kono, contact the airports on all the surrounding islands. Tell them to be on the lookout for Dawkins, get local sheriff departments prepped to deal with the hostage situation."

"Sure thing, boss," Kono says, going silent as she hangs up.

In the passenger seat, Chin winces and asks, "What's the plan?"

"I got a buddy, owes me a favor," Steve says with a grin. He chuckles at Chin's dubious expression.

While Steve is afraid for the family and the pilot held hostage, he's glad his team picked up the trail so quickly. He's glad he didn't call Catherine, and hopes his luck continues long enough that it stops occurring to him to call her. 

~*~

Steve comes back from Moloka'i mid-afternoon, landing back at his friend's helo pad. It feels like it's been about three days crammed into one, and honestly, he's looking forward to being home with his family. 

Danny and Kono are there when Steve and Chin land, along with an ambulance for the recovered hostages. Moloka'i Sheriff's department is taking care of the body, which Steve is grateful for. It means he can come back to Oahu, wrap his arms around Danny, and say, "Let's go home."

"Who, uh," Danny says, looking over at Chin and Kono. "Who gets to go tell Dana that her fiancée is not who he says he is?"

"We'll do it," Chin offers, pointing to himself and Kono. 

"No, no," Steve says, waving Chin off. As team lead, this sort of thing is Steve's responsibility. "I'll do it. It's fine."

"You do have your sister at home," Danny reminds Steve, and Steve's stomach sinks. 

That's right. Mary's here, probably running from a bad situation, possibly contemplating abduction of a minor. Steve should go. He asks Chin, "Are you sure?"

"We can handle it," Chin insists, rolling his eyes. "Go home, you two." He points at Danny and says, "Have a nice dinner with the sister-in-law!"

Danny makes an affronted noise holding his hands out. "Really? More of the already-married jokes?"

Kono pats Danny on the shoulder, saying, "You do have a kid together. It's only a matter of time."

Danny laughs and flips Kono the bird, while Steve walks toward the car without saying goodbye to Kono or Chin. 

Something about "it's only a matter of time" bothers Steve. He never wanted to be one of those Omegas who goes into every relationship dreaming of marriage and babies. Steve never wanted to be an Omega at all. 

That doesn't mean Steve's not invested in this relationship he has with Danny. Hell, earlier Steve didn't call Catherine because of Danny. Steve looks back, and sees Danny hobbling toward him, and his heart feels bigger just _looking_ at Danny. 

But nothing is set in stone. Nothing is inevitable. Sometimes shit just happens and Steve has to do his best with the situation he's given. Besides, planning too far in advance always seems to lead to disappointment. 

Steve gets in the car and starts it, but he has to wait for Danny to catch up. Eventually, Danny gets in, throwing his cane onto the back seat before closing his door. Steve reaches for the gear shifter, but Danny stops him. "Hey, just wait a second, okay?"

Steve meets Danny's eyes. He really doesn't have the energy for an important discussion right now. "Wait a second, what?"

Danny puts up his hands, his eyes going wide. "Ease up, tiger. Nothing bad. I just thought maybe I could have a kiss hello or something."

Steve chuckles, the tension in his shoulders releasing all of a sudden. He leans over the gear shift toward Danny, saying, "Yeah, of course!"

Danny always uses his hands while kissing and the draw of fingers across Steve's jaw awakens a need that Steve hadn't been aware of before. Steve finds himself deepening the kiss, reaching for Danny's shoulder and using him as an anchor. Steve doesn't want to pull back, but he also doesn't want to get arrested for lewd behavior. 

Breaking the kiss, Steve smiles and asks Danny, "How's that?"

"Good," Danny replies, blinking a few times like he's not quite sure where he is anymore. "Good enough to make up for the fact that I gotta have dinner with your sister tonight and every other night from now until who knows–"

"That's not even remotely what's going to happen," Steve insists, furrowing his brows at Danny. He guesses they're going to do this after all. "And what do you have against my sister? You've met her, like, twice."

"And I'm sure she's lovely," Danny says, huffing and folding his hands in his lap. He looks out the window, like he's done talking, but Steve's not about to let this go. 

"No, really. What's the matter, Danno?" Steve turns further in his seat to get a really good look at Danny.

Danny shrugs. "I'm not good with in-laws."

Scoffing, Steve says, "You realize we're not actually married, right?"

"Yeah, no," Danny says, though Steve thinks that maybe he looks a little hurt. That's interesting. "I _know_ that. It's just what happened this one time–"

Steve nods at Danny's pause, to keep Danny talking.

"This one time, Rachel's mother came for a visit, all the way from London." Danny shakes his head and sighs. "I only made it two days before I had to move her into a hotel."

"You put your mother-in-law in a hotel?" Steve asks. He's never had a mother-in-law, but they can't be that bad, right?

Danny shrugs and gestures out. "Hey, it was her or me, babe."

Steve presses his fingers against his eyes, easing the ache that's forming behind them. "So, you don't like Mary because you had a bad experience with your ex-mother-in-law?"

"Yes," Danny replies with a short nod. "That, and Mary's an Omega."

Steve knows Danny doesn't have anything against Omegas in general. Danny knew Steve was an Omega since before they met, the first time. Rachel is an Omega. "Why is that a problem?"

"No, it's just…" Danny trails off, shaking his head.

Okay, now Steve's even more confused. "It's just what?"

"It's an Alpha thing, I don't know how to explain it." Danny huffs again, his eyes out the window instead of on Steve. He pauses long enough that Steve thinks maybe Danny's done with the conversation, and reaches forward to start the engine. He doesn't quite get there before Danny says, "Living in a place with an Omega who isn't a family member, and who you're not fucking, it messes with your head."

Steve gets a sinking feeling about all that time he spent in shared barracks, living with Alphas. If any of them knew he was an Omega, they never said anything. Steve has always wondered how much of that was Steve suppressing his pheromones medically, and how much of it was Joe White being his commanding officer. 

Clearing his throat, Steve asks Danny, "Messes with your head how?"

"I don't know. Makes me anxious," Danny says, making a clawing motion in front of his chest.

Steve points out, "Danny, everything makes you anxious."

"That is not true." Danny scoffs. "Puppies. Puppies don't make me anxious. And, uh, watching television. That doesn't make me anxious."

Steve chuckles and turns away from Danny so he can start the car. "That's all of two things in the whole world, Danno."

Danny crosses his arms over his chest. "Well, excuse me. Not all of us can be laid-back with Aloha spirit, Steven. Otherwise no one would get anything done. Ever."

"And, now he's back to insulting Hawaii." Steve shakes his head and pulls out of the parking space. They drive in silence for a few moments, before Steve's the one who caves and breaks it. "Seriously. Is having Mary in the house going to keep you out of it?"

Danny raises his eyebrows at Steve. "Why? Would you miss me?"

Steve chuckles, pulling up at a stoplight. "Yeah, Danno. I'd miss you."

Danny smiles, looking out the window and away from Steve. It makes Steve's heart beat a little bit faster. 

They're halfway home when Danny says, "It's like–" He sighs and starts to speak once more before he actually gets the words out. "It's like, what the hell do I do if she goes into heat, okay?"

"Mary?" Steve asks, because he's pretty sure this is a continuation of the same conversation, but with Danny, there's no telling what conversation he might find himself in the middle of at any given moment.

"Yeah," Danny says with a quick nod. "And what if she gets pheromones all over the house and I can't smell you anymore and that makes me…"

"Makes you what?" Steve asks, pretty sure by now that Danny's worried about nothing. Pheromones help Alphas identify Omegas, and they help Alphas and Omegas bond during heat. It's not like they make Alphas into crazy people outside cheesy movies, at least not from what Steve has seen.

"Makes me relax my standards, okay? Makes me feel things I wouldn't otherwise feel. I don't like it." Danny frowns, picking at the pants seam beside his knee. 

Steve feels stunned and it takes him an extra second to get going once the light turns green. A block down, Steve asks, "Is that what happened with us?"

Danny's words are clipped and very precise as he asks, "What do you mean, is that what happened?"

Steve sighs, glancing over at Danny before returning his eyes to the road. "Three years ago, did my pheromones make you feel something you didn't want to feel?"

"Yes and no," Danny says, which isn't the worst answer he could give. "I mean, I already liked you from our phone conversation. But then..." Danny scratches behind his ear. "But then I couldn't do it any more. The Alpha-for-hire thing. You ruined me."

Steve laughs and asks, "I _ruined_ you? How did I ruin you?"

"You don't need to hear any more," Danny says, a slight smile on his lips. "Your ego's big enough already."

Chuckling, Steve nods. "Okay." He turns off of the main boulevard and into the neighborhood.

He pauses to process for a moment, and then says, "So, you don't want Mary in your living space because you're afraid another McGarrett Omega is going to, what? Make you fall in love?" Steve pulls into the driveway and parks the Camaro next to his truck.

Danny gives Steve a long look before nodding and saying, "Yes."

Danny grabs his cane from the back seat and gets out of the car, but Steve feels frozen in place. Danny _loves_ Steve. He just said as much. Steve has no idea what to do with this information. 

~*~

Danny heads into the house, half expecting it to be empty, Steve's sister run away with Danny's kid. Instead, he finds them curled up on the couch together, watching cartoons. JD is resting his head back against Mary's chest and Danny gets a flash of anger that he has to breathe through for a moment. Mary has been there for the first two years of JD's life. Danny's only known him for a month.

Danny would be mad at Steve for keeping JD from him, but he's perfectly aware that as lucid as Danny was for those 48 hours Steve and Danny were together three years ago, Steve certainly wasn't. Steve didn't spend that time getting a good look at Danny's personality and growing fond of him and committing Danny's scent to memory while they were tied together. All Steve's focus had been turned inward, which is fine. That's what happens. Danny just wishes they would've had more time together. So, yes. If Danny had been in that situation, barely knowing the other parent of his child, he might have done the same thing. That doesn't mean Danny has to like the situation.

As Danny waits for Mary and JD to notice him, Steve comes in from outside. He brushes a kiss against Danny's cheek as he passes, then gets JD's and Mary's attention. "Hey, guys!"

"Daddy!" JD cries with a big smile, though he doesn't jump out of Mary's arms and go running toward Steve for a hug. "Danno!"

Danny gives his son a wave and a, "Hey, kiddo," as Steve crosses the room and scoops JD up out of Mary's lap, much to JD's delight. 

With JD on his hip, Steve heads for the kitchen. "What's for dinner, little man? What'd you make me?"

JD giggles, shaking his head. Mary brushes past Danny, laying her hand lightly on Danny's elbow as she goes. Danny tenses up at the gesture, but realizes that the touch didn't make him feel anything. Yes, he can still smell Mary, that she's an Omega between heats, and that she's been in the house for hours now. But it doesn't make Danny feel _anything_. Danny rolls his eyes heavenward and says a silent thank you to whatever powers lie up there. 

"The nanny made chicken," Mary says, opening the oven and using a dish towel to pull out a covered casserole dish. "I tasted some earlier and it's pretty good. You guys are getting your money's worth with her."

"Yeah, I suppose we are," Steve says, throwing Danny a look that Danny's not quite sure how to interpret. It's part, "I told you so," and part fondness. All else fails, Danny knows Steve's at least fond of him. With a guy whose trust issues run about as deep as the Mariana Trench, fondness is probably as good as Danny can expect. It's plenty enough for now.

Dinner gets set out on the table, JD's plate covered with bite-sized pieces that Steve very carefully cuts up for him. Danny ends up sitting across from Mary, and diagonal from JD in his booster chair. Figuring he should at least try to make an effort, Danny asks, "So, Mary, how's LA this time of year?"

A dark look passes Mary's eye and she swallows before putting on a polite smile. "It's alright. Kind of dry." 

"Okay," Danny says, turning his attention back toward his food. At least no one can fault him for failing to _try_.

Steve starts a conversation about some person he and Mary used to know, and Danny zones out, finishing up his food. He rejoins the conversation by force when Steve asks, "Isn't that right, Danno?"

Danny looks up, unsure of what he's replying to, but both Steve and Mary look at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. "Uh, sorry. What?"

"Lethal Weapon is the best action movie of all time," Steve says, like it's not a completely ridiculous statement. 

"Uh, _no_ ," Danny says, looking over at Mary, who's got her eyebrows raised. 

"What do you mean, no?" Steve turns more fully in his chair to face Danny. "What do you have against Lethal Weapon?"

"Nothing," Danny insists with a shrug. "I mean, Mel Gibson is probably one of the worst excuses for an Alpha on this planet, but the movie itself is fine."

"Fine?" Steve asks, scoffing in that way he always does when he's amused by Danny's differing opinion. " _Fine_? Lethal Weapon is not just _fine_!"

"Yes, it is," Danny insists. He points back and forth between Steve and Mary. "You wanna know what the best action movie of all time is?"

Mary's looking away, but Steve meets Danny's eyes, a challenge in the glint of them, and says, "Yes, please enlighten us, Daniel. What's the best action movie of all time?"

"Die Hard," Danny insists. "Followed by Die Hard Three, then Two, and then Raiders of the Lost Ark."

" _What_?" Steve cries throwing his hands up. "What are you talking about? _Die hard_? The one with the guy in the building?"

"Hey, Bruno is the man." Danny leans closer to Steve, putting a hand on his arm. "Please, tell me your list. I want to know how delusional you are."

"Well, Lethal Weapon," Steve replies, pausing until Danny nods. "Followed by Predator, Terminator 2, and Alien."

Danny rolls his eyes. "Okay, three of those are science fiction, so they don't even count–"

"And Raiders of the Lost Ark does?" Steve's voice is loud, but it's obvious he's having fun with the debate. 

"Of course it does. And do you have a thing for Arnold Schwarzenegger? Is this a thing I should know about? Should I practice the voice?" Danny grins as Steve's cheeks flush pink. 

"No!" Steve says. "No! Danny, I don't–"

"Stop it!" Mary cries, interrupting Steve. She's got JD in her arms and her eyes are wide and wild. "Stop! Don't hurt him!"

Danny's confused until he realizes his hand is still on Steve's arm. Danny has been squeezing Steve's arm, but not nearly hard enough to hurt him. Still, Mary doesn't seem to be in a rational place right now, and she's holding JD, who's got his face tucked against Mary's neck and his hands over his ears. Danny lets go of Steve and puts his hands up. "Mary…"

Steve stands, his hands up as well. "Mary, it's okay. Everything's fine," he says, his voice very carefully calm.

Mary points at Danny. "He was hurting you, Steve! He was yelling at you! And you let him be around…" She holds JD closer.

"Mary," Steve says as he circles around the table toward her. "Danny wouldn't hurt me." He holds up his wrist, where Danny's hand sat just a few seconds ago. "Look. See? Danny is gentle with me. He's gentle with JD. He's not Felicia."

Mary glares at Steve. "You don't know what you're talking about."

Steve nods, stepping closer. He holds out his hands toward Mary. "Okay, okay, maybe I don't. Why don't you give me JD? And then you can tell me all about it."

"I can't," Mary says. She shakes her head back and forth a few times before shooting a glare in Danny's direction. "Not while he's still here."

Danny's first instinct is to yell at Mary that she's being nuts and there's no way she has the right to keep him away from his son. Of course, Danny's second instinct is to stomp down on the first so he doesn't frighten JD, and so he doesn't frighten Mary into doing something rash. Still, he doesn't want to leave just because Mary wants him to. "Steve?"

Nostrils flaring and eyes wide, concerned, Steve turns toward Danny. "Maybe you should go home, Danno. Just for tonight."

Danny nods toward Mary, who looks steadier now that Steve has backed her up. He asks Steve, "You sure you got this?"

"Yeah," Steve replies right away, taking another step closer to Mary. "We're just going to put JD to bed and then have a talk. We'll see you tomorrow."

The thought of going back to his tiny apartment and his rickety bed, without even Grace there to liven the place up, makes Danny sigh. He knows he can't always have things the way he wants them, and he wants to learn from the way things went down with Rachel. He sighs again and says, "Yeah, sure. Okay. Goodnight."

On the way out the door, Danny smiles at Steve, hoping he looks more forgiving than he's feeling. He catches JD's eye and gives him a wave goodbye. It's nothing like the goodnight hug he normally gets, and Danny resents Mary for taking that from him. As he limps out to his car without his cane, Danny tries to tell himself that it's stupid to be resentful. Mary's obviously been through something horrible. No Omega should be afraid of their Alpha. 

When Danny gets home, he stomps around his apartment, trying to figure out what to do with himself now. He doesn't remember what he used to do before Steve and JD came into his life. He turns on the TV and listens to some documentary about sea creatures until he falls asleep.

~*~

After Danny leaves, the tension drains out of Mary. She passes JD into Steve's arms and leaves the room, heading up the stairs. Steve hears the guest room door close, and he's let with JD squirming in his arms and asking, "Where Mary go?"

"Mary's very tired," Steve tells his son with a shrug. "I'll put you to bed."

"No!" JD cries, pushing away from Steve so suddenly that Steve almost drops him. "Want Danno!"

Steve crouches down, setting JD on his feet, but keeping him close and looking him in the eye. "Danno had to go home, buddy."

"With Grace?" JD blinks at Steve, his eyes wide and sad, but at least he's not trying to struggle away anymore.

Steve goes ahead and tells the white lie. "Yeah. Danno had to go stay at his house, with Grace."

"Grace's bed is at Danno's house." JD nods. He looks off for a moment, thinking, and then turns back to Steve. "Can we read voices?"

"You want me to read your story with voices?" Steve asks, picking JD up again and bringing him up the stairs.

"Yeah, like Danno!"

Steve shrugs. "Well, I won't promise my voices are as good as Danno's, but I'll give it a shot."

JD smiles and it's almost like everything is okay again. Danny's not here and Mary's locked in her room, but at least JD's happy. 

Later, after Steve has rocked JD to sleep, he goes and knocks softly on Mary's door. "It's me," he says, and it reminds Steve of when Mary was nine and used to lock herself in her room when she was playing "secret spies."

Mary doesn't answer. Steve gives her a good couple of minutes to respond, but she gives him nothing.

"Mary," Steve says through the door, leaning against it. "If you don't say something, I'm going to assume you're in distress and kick the door down."

"Oh my god!" Mary cries, her voice annoyed. "Don't kick the door down!"

The door opens and Mary stands in the doorway, one hand still on the doorknob, the other on her hip. "Why do you have to act all Alpha all the time?"

The question knocks Steve off guard for a moment. Does he act like an Alpha around Mary? He knows he acts Alpha at work because he's the leader. He has to act a certain way when he's in command. Steve wonders when, outside of being in heat, he's ever _not_ acted Alpha. Even as a kid, he was pretty aggressive and bossy. 

Steve tells Mary, "I guess that's just who I am."

"Yeah," she says, rolling her eyes. She sighs and crosses her arms over her chest. "I guess I kinda overreacted earlier, huh?"

"Kinda," Steve says, putting his hands in his pockets. "That's just how Danny and I communicate, Mary."

Mary scoffs. "It sounded more like him telling you how it was. You know, _or else_."

Steve winces. He wants to make Mary's ex suffer for whatever she's done to Mary. "We just didn't get to the part of the conversation where I tell him he's wrong and exactly why." Steve shakes his head. "I mean, we can try to tone it down around you, but I'm afraid toned down might still be too difficult for you."

"Jesus," Mary says with a disbelieving chuckle. "What are you subjecting my nephew to?"

"It's good, though," Steve insists. "I mean, Danny grew up in a house where people actually learned how to express their feelings. I want that for JD, even if it is a little loud."

Mary nods for a moment, and then starts chewing on her thumbnail. It reminds Steve of how she used to suck her thumb when she was a kid. "You like him? Danny?"

A smile spreads across Steve's face. "Yeah. I really do."

Looking away, Mary crosses her arms again, and after a moment her eyes start to water. Her voice breaks as she says, "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"Hey," Steve says, stepping forward and putting his arms around Mary. "Who says there's anything wrong with you?"

"Well," she says, rubbing her face against Steve's shirt, "how come you get a nice Alpha, and I always get assholes?"

Chuckling sadly, Steve squeezes Mary. "Do you know how many Alphas I've dated?"

"A lot?" Mary asks, looking up at Steve.

Steve shakes his head. "One. I haven't been interested in any others. I was starting to think I was going to severely disappoint Dad."

"But now you have the kid, and the Alpha, and a job, and this perfect life. What do I have?" Mary wipes away a tear from her cheek with one hand.

"You have a brother and a nephew who love you," Steve tells her. "That's not nothing, Mary."

"Yeah," Mary says, leaning her head against Steve's chest. "Yeah." She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. "Does that mean I can stay?"

Steve's nodding before he thinks through all the ramifications of having Mary live here. On the one hand, she'd probably love taking care of JD, at least some of the time. But on the other, she and Danny haven't clicked yet, and Steve's not sure what to do about that. 

In the end, Steve ends up saying, "As long as you don't kick Danny out of the house again, you can stay."

"Jesus," Mary says, pulling away, but with a smile on her face. "You're totally in love with the guy, aren't you?" She pokes Steve's ribs, making him flinch and grab at her hand.

"I'm getting there," Steve replies, blocking Mary's next attempt gently. Remembering the conversation he had earlier with Danny, Steve says, "You'll have to have a plan for what you're going to do during heat. As much as I love you, sis, I'm not sharing my Alpha with you."

"Ew, gross. No." Mary sticks out her tongue and wrinkles her nose. "I'll go back on suppressants."

"And?" Steve prompts her.

Rolling her eyes, Mary says, "And I'll get an account with the comfort facility downtown. Just in case."

"Good," Steve says, giving Mary a bright smile. "Great!"

Mary smiles back, happier than he's seen her in a long time. 

~*~

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Danny asks, once Mary and JD have left and the door is closed behind them. “We all could’ve gone together to the zoo.”

“You’re supposed to stay off that knee as much as possible,” Steve replies, handing Danny the cane that’s been leaning up against the sofa all morning, instead of being used. “Besides, I thought we could use a little time, just the two of us, with no kids and no interruptions.”

Danny raises his eyebrows, the edges of his mouth twitching up. “Oh yeah? Why’s that?”

“I _do_ feel bad about how you hurt your knee,” Steve says, stepping closer to Danny and putting his hands on Danny’s hips. “And Mary kind of kicked you out last night, which was totally not my intention when I invited her to stay. I had a talk with her about it.”

“About how I kind of live here too?” Danny asks, hooking his hands over Steve's shoulders.

"Yeah." Steve ducks down and kisses Danny firmly. "C'mon. I'll carry you up the stairs."

"No, you won't." Danny gives Steve a look until Steve relents and nods. "I know you're Mr. Big Navy SEAL, but I'm heavier than I look."

"I can carry an Alpha my height," Steve says, gesturing the size with his hand, "two miles through the jungle. I'm pretty sure I could get you up the stairs."

"Maybe so," Danny says, passing Steve, "but let's not test the theory. Don't we have something better to do?" Danny starts up the stairs, using the railing and his cane to hop on his good knee. 

Steve grins and follows Danny. "Yeah, we sure do."

Up in the bedroom, Steve pulls Danny into another kiss, this one more urgent than the last. Danny drops his cane and pulls Steve closer, his hands hot on Steve's ass cheeks. Steve's body aches with desire, his cock filling and his hole growing wetter. He pulls at Danny's t-shirt, getting it up over his head and exposing all that wonderful skin. 

Steve kisses down Danny's neck, away from the stubble covering Danny's chin and jaw. Danny shudders and says, "Alright, I gotta sit down, baby. My knee."

Steve's brain takes a moment to switch gears, and then he's unbuttoning Danny's fly and pushing Danny back toward the bed while he pulls Danny's shorts down. "Sit down, Danno," Steve urges. "Lay back."

Danny sits on the bed, letting Steve push his clothes the rest of the way off. Danny's cock is hard already, jutting up toward his furred belly. Steve's mouth waters. 

As Danny scoots toward the pillows, using his arms and his good leg, he says, "C'mon. Lose the clothes, babe. C'mere."

Stripping quickly, Steve throws his clothes to the floor and climbs onto the bed. He crawls toward Danny and over him, kissing Danny soundly. As they kiss, Steve lowers most of his body against Danny's, pressing their chests together. Danny's arms wrap around Steve, pulling him the rest of the way down. Steve gasps when his cock presses against Danny's between their stomachs. 

They've gotten off like this a few times, and it must be what Danny's expecting, because he reaches for the bedside table. Steve makes a small noise to stop Danny, and then reaches down between them, grabbing Danny's cock in his hand. "Do you want to knot me?" Steve asks.

Danny freezes, voiceless for a moment before stammering, "Y-yeah. Fuck, yeah. L-let's do that." He licks his lips and asks, "Are you sure?"

Smiling, Steve assures Danny, "I'm sure."

Steve gives Danny a few strokes and then leans toward the bedside table. He pulls out one of the Alpha condoms he stocked up on after Danny started sleeping over, and the bottle of lube. They might not need it, but Steve doesn't get as wet when he's on suppressants.

"Here," Danny says, taking the condom and opening it. As he puts it on, he says, "Fat lot of good these did us last time."

Steve chuckles. As upset as he was when he found out something had gone wrong and that he was pregnant, it's been long enough since then that Steve can laugh it off as a twist of fate. Still, he says to Danny, "Better safer than sorry. Again."

"Mmm," Danny replies, his eyes rolling toward the ceiling as Steve uses his hands to add extra lube to Danny's cock. "Fuck."

"That's the idea," Steve says with a grin, which makes Danny scoff with a smirk. 

Steve rests one hand on Danny's shoulder and uses the other to line Danny up. When Steve sinks down far enough that the tip of Danny's cock presses against Steve's hole, the sensation makes Steve shiver. 

"Oh, babe," Danny whispers, his hands on Steve's thighs, squeezing just hard enough to let Steve know he's there. 

Letting Danny into his body is a weird feeling for Steve. He's never done this outside of a heat before. All of his other sexual encounters haven't been with Alphas. Mostly, Steve has been with Beta women, like Catherine. So, Steve hasn't done this before, and it's strange. 

Steve's body stretches around Danny's cock, but only so far before the stretch starts to feel like too much. "Fuck," Steve hisses, lifting up again, so Danny's just barely caught on the rim of Steve's hole.

"Hey," Danny says softly, his hand on Steve's chin, lifting until Steve's looking him in the eye. "Relax, babe. If we don't get there today, we don't get there."

Steve aches at the thought of missing out on Danny's knot for one more day. He takes a deep breath to calm his nerves and lets it out. "We're getting there today, Danno."

Steve takes another deep breath and lets it out as he sinks down again, this time getting further. The stretch is easier this time, and once he gets far enough, sharp pleasure shivers through Steve, scratching an itch he wasn't sure he had. "Oh, God."

"Steve," Danny murmurs, his head thrown back, the expanse of his heavily-stubbled neck and chin exposed. "Shit. Oh, fuck."

"Yeah," Steve agrees with a happy chuckle. He gives a few unsteady strokes and then sits down as fully as he can manage. "That good, baby?"

"So good," Danny replies, his hands digging in at Steve's hips as he gives these shallow, circular thrusts that make Steve groan. "Fuck, are you sure? Can I knot you?"

"Yeah," Steve replies with a nod, leaning forward to press a hard kiss to Danny's lips. When he breaks the kiss, Steve sits up and presses his ass as closely to Danny's hips as it will go. He feels Danny's knot starting to swell, pressing at the walls of his hole, stretching it outward. "Yes," Steve says breathlessly, running a hand up through the hair on Danny's chest. "Yeah, baby. C'mon. Give it to me, Danno."

Danny cries out, arching his hips up, locking his knot in place as it finishes swelling. Steve's vision goes dark with the aching pleasure of all that pressure just inside Steve's ass. "Fuck, Steve. God, you feel amazing." Danny's hips drop, but not enough to tug too hard on where they're tied together. 

One hand on the small of Steve's back, Danny sits up, grabbing at Steve's shoulder with his other hand. "C'mere," Danny says, pulling Steve into a kiss and wrapping both arms around Steve. "God, I _love_ you."

Steve's chest feels like it's expanding so much it's going to explode. The pressure of Danny's knot in Steve's body, and the pressure of Danny's declaration of love on Steve's heart collude together to short-circuit Steve's brain. He says without thinking, "Love you, Danno. Fuck, I–"

As soon as Danny wraps his hand around Steve's cock, Steve comes, clenching down on Danny's knot. Steve is so full, he's too full, and Danny's hand on Steve's cock is too hot and everything is too much, but Steve is tied there and as overwhelming as everything is, it also feels good. It feels so damn good that Steve lets out the breath he's been holding in a half-laugh, half-sob. 

"Shh, shh," Danny says, moving both of them so Steve's on his back and Danny's laid out over Steve's chest, looking up at Steve with a smirk on his face. Rather than feeling confining, Danny's weight feels comforting, grounding Steve and putting him back in his body. "This good?" Danny asks.

Nodding, Steve cranes his neck forward to give Danny a kiss. "Yeah, Danno. It's good." Running his hands over Danny's back, Steve asks, "Your knee okay like this?"

Danny nestles his head against Steve's chest and answers in the affirmative. "Mm-hmm." He sounds like he's about to drift off to sleep.

Which, come to think of, sounds like a really great idea. 

Steve is almost asleep, despite his legs at odd angles and his body tied to Danny's, when he hears footsteps in the hallway and Mary's voice, "Steve?"

The doorknob is turning by the time Steve gathers his wits enough to call out. "Mary, no! Don't come in here!" He grabs the pillow from behind his head and sort of has Danny's ass covered before Mary breeches the door. Steve's shout wakes Danny and he starts, his knot pulling at Steve's ass and making Steve hiss, his eyes watering.

"Oh, my god!" she cries, throwing her hand over her eyes. "I am _so_ sorry!" She fumbles her way back out of the room, closing the door most of the way before it pauses, still an inch open. "Wait, are you guys tied?"

Steve meets Danny's eyes and he winces, giving Steve half a shrug, which Steve interprets as meaning they're going to be tied for at least a while longer. Steve calls out, "Not that it's any of your business, but yes!" He huffs, annoyed that he couldn't just have this one thing for him and Danny, without someone interrupting. "What's going on, Mary? Where's JD?"

"He's outside with Kono," Mary says. "We ran into her on the way to the zoo, and we decided to go swimming with her instead."

Steve groans, letting his head fall back against the mattress. "Just…"

"Go away," Danny says for Steve, rolling his eyes. "We'll be out when we're ready."

Mary's silent for a moment before she asks in a quieter voice, "Steve?"

"Like Danny said, please go away," Steve tells her, trying to make his voice as reassuring as possible. "And next time I send you out of the house, for god's sake, call before you come back!"

Mary laughs. "Alright, alright. We'll be out on the beach."

The door closes the rest of the way, leaving Steve and Danny alone. Steve laughs and says, "I think my sister may have seen your ass."

A hysterical giggle erupts from Danny's throat and he dips his head down, resting his forehead against Steve's chest. 

Steve hugs Danny tightly, kissing his hair and breathing him in. Danny smells mostly like whatever stuff he puts in his hair, but also like laundry soap and Alpha and a little bit like JD's oatmeal from earlier that morning. The scents mixed together make Steve's blood run slower, his muscles relaxing, letting him sink into the mattress under Danny.

"For your next heat, we're definitely renting out a comfort room," Danny says. "Far, far away from here."

The comment makes Steve realize he hasn't thought about going into heat at all. The last time it happened was before JD was born. After that, Steve had his doctor increase the dosage of his suppressants, so he wouldn't have another breakthrough heat. 

Going through heat on purpose? It's not something Steve's ever considered before. He's not sure he's even willing to consider it now that Danny is in his life. 

An uneasy skip in his heartbeat, Steve replies, "Yeah. Somewhere far away."

Steve holds Danny close and tries to breathe normally, because everything else is really good right now. Why worry over this?

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! If you liked this story, please consider reblogging [this tumblr post](http://pterawaters.tumblr.com/post/120702869499/balance-steve-danny-e-9053-words-complete). Or just come on over and say hi!


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